In my last post I mentioned that I was having trouble getting any loft with my driver. I am hitting it pretty straight, but I am not seeing the height that the pros get when the unleash the big stick.
This was actually a good thing during my last round because many of our tee shots were into the wind. My playing partners assumed that I was keeping the ball low on purpose to help cut through the wind. I just went along with it, pretending to know what I was doing. The fact of the matter is, that's all I've got with my driver. My 3-wood needs some work as well.
I was trying to work it out on the range yesterday, but I couldn't figure it out. After my session, I jumped on youtube to find some tips, but surprisingly, there isn't much. There's a lot of "hit longer", "hit it straighter", "cure your slice", but not much on hitting it high or low.
I decided to delve into the archives of my virtual swing coach's blog, Ruthless Golf. After a few minutes of searching, I came across this post by Mike and I think we may be onto something.
In this post, Mike says that amateurs are better off learning about trajectory rather than trying to learn to shape the ball. He says...
"Players think that draws fly farther than fades, and fades stop quicker than draws. That's only partially right. The way most people hit them, draws travel farther because they fly lower, and fades stop quicker because they fly higher. But if you hit a high draw, it will stop faster; if you hit a low fade (sometimes called a power fade), it will fly farther."
A golfer has to have complete control of their swing in order to pull of a proper draw or fade. Professionals hit fades and draws all the time and are successful because they know exactly how to execute these shots under the right conditions. Most amateurs don't have this "touch" and end up hitting the wrong shot for the situation.
After reading Mikes post and viewing the video that he posted(see below as well), I think my problem is ball position. I may have the ball a little too far back in my stance which causes a lower ball fight. This will be fine for now because the fairways in Arizona will be firmer due to the extreme heat. The ball tends to roll out after hitting the turf. So even if I only have a carry of say 210 yards, it can still get out to 250 yards before it comes to a stop.
If the fairways are soft or I have to carry water or desert to get to the fairway, I will be in trouble if I don't get some height on my tee shot. Under these conditions, my ball will not roll out as much because the grass is moist. If there is water to carry, then I have to hit a good one, or hope that my ball skips across the water to make it to the fairway. If I hit into the desert, it's a ball lost, because there might be rattlesnakes. I'm quick but not quick enough to dodge a snake strike.
I'll work it out on the range over the next couple of days and get back to you with the results. The loft on my driver is 10.5 so I don't think that is the problem(although I was never fitted for my driver). Hopefully the fix is just moving my the ball slightly forward. That would be much better than having to buy a new $300 driver. Have a great round and always hit your target.
Photo found here.
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